Monday, September 19, 2016

with Robertina Šebjanič, Kat Austen, Regine Rapp (moderated by Christian de Lutz)in the framework of the exhibition Aural
Aquatic Presencefeaturing work by Robertina Šebjanič .

18 September, 2016, 2-6PM

The current exhibition project artistically explores the interplay and
intercommunication between animal and machine while focusing on the aquatic
environment. Within this framework we want to invite you to our seminar
which will theoretically explore these and other aspects about artistic
and scientific methodologies on interspecies empathy and human-nonhuman
companionship.

Based on the concept and exhibition series Nonhuman Subjectivities
the presentation will theoretically reflect several artists and their
specific artistic interest in nonhuman agents. Different artistic strategies
will be presented to discuss the manifold aesthetic approaches to the
phenomenon of object-oriented perception. Be it narrative strategies,
aesthetic strategies of immersion, bridging medical historical phenomena
with gender issues, or combining scientific laboratory and art practices
– it is challenging to explore a variety of artistic approaches towards
the nonhuman. The counter-linguistic turn as well as the concept of cooperative
actions can serve as a useful theoretical ground within the debate.

Robertina ŠebjaničSubjectivity and the Aquatocene

The most substantial aims of the audiovisual performance Aurelia
1+Hz / proto viva sonification (2015) are to explore the phenomena of
interspecies communication, sonification of the environment and the underwater
acoustic/ bioacoustics. Her new installation Subaquatic / Aquatocene
sound scape (2016) reflects about the immersion into the underwater acoustic
environment and the sound and noise pollution produced there by human
presence. The project explores the relationship between sound, nature
and society and encourages rethinking the human impact on the (under)water
habitat as well as the establishment and maintainance of safe audio environments
for animals that live in the oceans and seas.Kat AustenExperiments in Interspecies Empathy: The Coral Empathy Device

We have a lot in common with coral. It builds shelter to protect
itself, and lives in symbiosis with microorganisms, which – like
our microbiome – help it to survive. Coral acts like a steward to
much other marine life, providing a home for the algae with which it lives
symbiotically, and creating reefs that are one of the most biodiverse
ecosystems on the planet. Using stewardship as a common starting point,
Kat will discuss her piece The Coral Empathy Device (2016) in the
context of exploring interspecies empathy through artistic investigations
into the marine environment and human perception. Drawing on an approach
that melds together multiple knowledges, Kat will explain both the conceptual
approach and her methodologies in the research and creation of a piece
that challenges the audience physically to prompt a lived experience connecting
human-in-air and coral-in-water.

The current exhibition project artistically explores the interplay and
intercommunication between animal and machine while focusing on the aquatic
environment. Within this framework we want to invite you to our seminar
which will theoretically explore these and other aspects about artistic
and scientific methodologies on interspecies empathy and human-nonhuman
companionship.PRESENTATIONS:

Based on the concept and exhibition series Nonhuman Subjectivities
the presentation will theoretically reflect several artists and their
specific artistic interest in nonhuman agents. Different artistic strategies
will be presented to discuss the manifold aesthetic approaches to the
phenomenon of object-oriented perception. Be it narrative strategies,
aesthetic strategies of immersion, bridging medical historical phenomena
with gender issues, or combining scientific laboratory and art practices
– it is challenging to explore a variety of artistic approaches towards
the nonhuman. The counterlinguistic turn as well as the concept of cooperative
actions can serve as a useful theoretical ground within the debate.

Berlin based art historian Regine Rapp curates and researches
contemporary art at the intersection of art & science, and the phenomenon
of art & space. She co-founded Art Laboratory Berlin in 2006, which
she co-directs and curates together with Christian de Lutz since 2009.
Exhibition and research topics: Time & Technology, Synaesthesia, macro/microbiologies
and the arts. Recent publication: Art and the Biological Sublime in the
21st Century (2015).

Robertina ŠebjaničSubjectivity and the Aquatocene

The most substantial aims of the audiovisual performance Aurelia
1+Hz / proto viva sonification (2015) are to explore the phenomena of
interspecies communication, sonification of the envi-ronment and the underwater
acoustic/ bioacoustics. Her new installation Subaquatic / Aquato-cene
sound scape (2016) reflects about the immersion into the underwater acoustic
environment and the sound and noise pollution produced there by human
presence. The project explores the relationship between sound, nature
and society and encourages rethinking the human impact on the (under)water
habitat as well as the establishment and maintainance of safe audio environ-ments
for animals that live in the oceans and seas.

Ljubljana based Robertina Šebjanič is an intermedia
artist whose works address the relationships between art, science and
technology. In recent years, she’s been focusing on living systems
in particular. Her artistic exploratory processes result in audiovisual
performances and sound art, as well as complex submersible configurations/
installations. http://robertina.net/

We have a lot in common with coral. It builds shelter to protect
itself, and lives in symbiosis with microorganisms, which – like
our microbiome – help it to survive. Coral acts like a steward to
much other marine life, providing a home for the algae with which it lives
symbiotically, and creating reefs that are one of the most biodiverse
ecosystems on the planet. Using stewardship as a common starting point,
Kat will discuss her piece The Coral Empathy Device (2016) in the
context of exploring interspecies empathy through artistic investigations
into the marine environment and human perception. Drawing on an approach
that melds together multiple knowledges, Kat will explain both the conceptual
approach and her methodologies in the research and creation of a piece
that challenges the audience physically to prompt a lived experience connecting
human-in-air and coral-in-water.

Kat Austen is a succession of experiences and an assemblage
of aspirations. She is also a person. She creates artworks and experiences
that explore multiple knowledges, boundaries and authority in an environmental
context. She has a studio in Berlin and lectures at University College
London’s Arts and Sciences BASc, is Artist in Residence in UCL’s
Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences, and part of the London Creative
Network.

Moderated by Christian
de Lutz

Christian
de Lutz, originally from New York and now based in Berlin, is an artist
and curator. His artworks deal with social, political and cultural themes,
with an emphasis on science, technology, migration and cultural borderlines.
He co-founded Art Laboratory Berlin in 2006 and co-directs and curates
Art Laboratory Berlin together with Regine Rapp since 2009. Exhibition
and research topics of the last years: Time & Technology, Synaesthesia,
macro/microbiologies and the arts. Recent publication: Art and the Biological
Sublime in the 21st Century (2015).

The Bio & Beers format is for
everyone: it usually starts with a 20 minutes presentation, followed by
discussions while having beers. On occasion there are workshops, like the one led last night by Miri Alister:

This week we got our hands dirty with culturing bioluminescent
bacteria (yep, that glows in the dark). The late evening is the best
time to see this little organisms glowing. We learned how to create a medium in a Petri dish and culture the medium with the bacteria
(Photobacterium!) and even take them home with us. In a week or two they should be glowing!

This week
we get out hands dirty with culturing bioluminescent bacteria (yep, that
glows in the dark). The late evening is the best time to see this little
organisms glowing. You will nurture the bacteria and even take them home
to see them glowing every night.Join us and
invite your friends too!

To help us with organization, please register. Meetings are usually free, but there is a fee when workshops are included:
This event costs 10 euro (includes drinks and workshop materials); Free for members and people that have donated materials.

Every other
SATURDAY we host a hands-on workshops that focuses on various micro-organisms.
More info on https://www.meetup.com/Biotinkering-Berlin.
A project of Dr. Mirela Alister, Rüdiger Trojok and Biotinkering
e.V.

The exhibition investigates agency and sentience in one of the 'simplest'
of multicellular creatures: the jellyfish, placing it into relation
with a human made machine. Also noteworthy here is the importance
of sound in marine systems, as well as the effects of human intervention
on aural aquatic systems.

In
her series of works Aurelia 1+Hz the Ljubljana based artist
Robertina Šebjanič
is interested in both biopolitical and technological attempts
at the prolongation of life as well as a new critical reflexion
of interspecies cohabitation. Šebjanič,
whose work involves intensive cooperation with marine biologists
from around the globe, has chosen to work with jellyfish, which
have existed on earth for over 500 million years.

Her interactive installation Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva generator
from 2014 proposes the mutual coexistence of animal and machine.
In contrast to robots, which are driven by digital artificial
intelligence, this project uses a living organism to bring life
to a simple machine, and in a way, to express itself through the
machine. Living jellyfish actually run the installation: the mechatronic
part, video and sound. The movements and contractions of the jellyfish
are recorded by HD camera. The captured data is then transformed
in real time into code, which in turn navigates the mechanisms
of the installation.

Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva sonification was realized in
2015 as an audio – visual performance with living system,
where the artist extended the Aurelia 1+Hz project to challenge
the phenomena of interspecies communication, sonification of the
environment and the acoustic of the specific space surrounding
the creatures. Šebjanič
explains: "Sound loops containing recordings of jellyfish
in a closed environment and pre-recorded sonic experiments from
the sea are mixed in generative score, which is assembled into
immersive sonic and visual experience."

Šebjanič's
current
project »Subaquatic / Aquatocene sound scape« from
2016 investigates the phenomenon of underwater noise pollution
created by humankind in the seas and oceans. Over the last few
years Šebjanic has produced a number of recordings using
hydrophones. From this archive she presents a sound work in the
exhibition, which explores the phenomenon of human sound pollution.
Underwater noise effects a great number of marine life forms,
who depend on the subaquatic sonic environment to survive.

Links

About Me

Art Laboratory Berlin e.V., a non-profit organisation, was founded in Autumn 2006. As a noncommercial art space, Art Laboratory Berlin was established as a platform for projects
concentrating on the border between visual arts and related artistic and scholarly fields.
For more info. go to
http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org